


The Substitute

by writenow753



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: M/M, cuddling lots of cuddling, first time admitting feelings out loud, greasy woohyun, implied sexy!times, jealous sunggyu, kissing lots of kissing, lonely woohyun, petty jealousy over stuffed bear, romcom fluff, so much fluff like seriously i'm not kidding, sulky sunggyu, super cute and adorable i promise, teasing lots of teasing, tiny tiny side of myungyeol because why not?, woogyu gives me life, woohyun gets a new best friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 09:18:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8050765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writenow753/pseuds/writenow753
Summary: Takes place during Sunggyu's solo promotions and Woohyun's feeling a little lonely.





	The Substitute

The loud incessant ringing of his phone alarm jerks Woohyun awake, and all he really wants to do is shut it off and toss it across the room. He doesn’t though, instead he yawns and stretches lazily, hoping to work out the tired kinks from his body.

It takes him a few minutes before he’s willing to sit up, forcing his eyes open as he does, and that’s when he notices the giant white bear resting at the bottom of his bedspread. He’ll admit he’s still more than a little bleary-eyed, so he shuts his eyes tight, rubbing the corners of them, hoping to brush away any remaining sleepiness.

When he reopens them, the bear hasn’t disappeared. This is not how he expected his morning to start.

He reaches for it, grabbing onto its ear and dragging it to his lap, and spends a few minutes locked in a staring competition with the stuffed animal. Obviously, and quite easily, the bear wins the no-blinking contest. It’s soft and fluffy, and actually pretty cute all-around. It’s also at least half his height.

There’s no note attached, but even without one, he instinctively knows who it’s from. And maybe it’s because he knows who it’s from that he sits the bear on his bedroom floor, in the far corner, as if it’s in trouble.

The first couple of days pass with the bear remaining in its time-out corner and completely ignored by Woohyun. But Woohyun is Woohyun, and he starts to feel bad, so he moves the bear back to his bed. And that’s how it starts.

“You really are cute and adorable,” he tells the bear on the third morning. “Maybe I should name you… wouldn’t you like that? Hmm, now what would be a good name?”

It takes him most of the morning, and a bit of googling for ideas and then waffling back and forth between a couple other names like Snowball and Olaf ( _Frozen_ -fanatic he is) before finally settling on Mr. Hugglesworth.

After that, Woohyun begins to take Mr. Hugglesworth places. Just around the dormitory of course — he’s not crazy enough to start toting him around outside and in public. When he watches television, Mr. Hugglesworth is by his side on the living room sofa. When he eats, Mr. Hugglesworth is sitting next to him in a chair at the table. And when he sleeps, he holds onto Mr. Hugglesworth tightly, hoping it will help keep the loneliness he feels at bay.

—

It’s been a full week of hearing countless stories from the other members about Woohyun’s grand adventures with his new best friend, aka the giant stuffed bear. Sunggyu’s pretty sure they’re embellishing things as they have a tendency to do, but he still can’t help the annoyance that sneaks up and takes ahold of him at the sight of Woohyun cuddling with the aforementioned bear when he finally _finally_ makes it home from what feels like a day (and month) of endless schedules.

It’s late at night — technically, it’s early morning hours — when he enters Woohyun’s room. He’s been getting back incredibly late, and leaving incredibly early, so for the past week he’s been crashing on the couch out in the living room. _So much for being considerate_ , he thinks to himself, _when it seems like someone else isn’t even appreciating it_.

Remembering all the things the other members said, he yanks the bear out of Woohyun’s grasp and tosses it in the direction of the door without paying attention to (or caring to see) where it lands.

Woohyun wakes up, and when he sees Sunggyu his smile is automatic, but it lasts for only half a moment when he realizes what woke him up. “Hey, what did you do to Mr. Hugglesworth?” he asks. “That’s my baby. He’s just a poor defenseless bear, hyung! And you, how could you—”

Sunggyu just lets Woohyun ramble-slash-rant (because he’s exhausted and just wants to sleep for an entire day straight, something he knows statistically has zero chance of actually happening). He pays him no mind, instead choosing to climb over and stretch out in front of Woohyun, facing toward the wall.

“What are you doing?” Woohyun asks, quickly forgetting his upset over Mr. Hugglesworth.

“Here,” Sunggyu says, grabbing onto one of Woohyun’s arms and placing it around his waist, “if you need something to cuddle with…” His voice trails off, and he’s glad it’s dark in the room and that he’s facing away from Woohyun, because he can feel a slight blush forming on his cheeks. He’s totally not jealous of a gigantic stuffed toy, or anything, he’s _not_.

A few seconds elapse in absolute silence and stillness, before Woohyun shifts and snuggles closer, tightening his grip around Sunggyu’s waist, as if he’s afraid that this is just a dream and the other will disappear.

“Can’t breathe,” Sunggyu complains, and Woohyun ever so slightly loosens his grip. He’s about to say _thank you_ when Woohyun throws a leg over him, trapping him in another way, hanging onto him much like a koala bear to an eucalyptus tree.

“Ya! It’s too hot to do that.”

“I don’t care,” Woohyun singsongs back, acting just like a little kid would. “Never going to let you go hyung.”

“You sound creepy.”

“Nuh uh,” he denies, while trying to snuggle closer and closer to Sunggyu as if that’s even physically possible (which, by the way, it’s totally not).

“Woohyunnie,” Sunggyu says a few minutes later, words whisper soft in the night air. “Is this how you’ve been with what was the name again… Mr. Hugsworth?”

Meanwhile Woohyun had started drifting off to sleep — now that he had Sunggyu beside him, sleep didn’t seem so hard to come by — but the question wakes him fully again. “Huh? You mean Mr. Hugglesworth? How I was with…?” Then understanding dawns and he begins to chuckle softly. “Were you jealous?”

“What?!” Sunggyu protests a little too loudly and a little too quickly, and he can’t help but cringe at the sound of his quick denial and higher than normal voice. “No,” he huffs, making sure to speak in a normal tone, “why would I be? You’re crazy Nam Woohyun!”

“Crazy for you hyung,” Woohyun responds, placing a small kiss against the exposed side of his lover’s neck, delighting in the shiver that the other can’t quite suppress or hide.

“Quit being so greasy,” Sunggyu groans.

“You love it,” Woohyun declares instead.

“No, I don’t.”

“You love it, you know you do.”

“I don’t love it, I don’t….I don’t— ya! Woohyun, what are you doing?”

Somehow and with the speed of a highly trained ninja (or perhaps Sunggyu’s brain and reflexes are too tired to process any movements faster than a snail’s pace), Woohyun has Sunggyu pinned underneath him before the elder realizes what’s happening. It’s no longer dark in the room either. There’s a small lamp on the bedside table, a light which Woohyun must have turned on at some point as well. It casts a warm, soft glow around them and allows Sunggyu to see his boyfriend’s face smiling down at him.

“You totally love all my greasy charms, and you _were_ jealous of the bear!” Woohyun’s smile turns into a bit of a knowing smirk.

“I already told you I wasn’t jealous of the bear! And I don’t love the greasy things you say or do, it’s embarrassing.” He narrows his eyes into a glare, not that it makes a noticeable difference or anything.

Woohyun pouts. “Fine, then, be that way hyung. I’m not going to let you sleep until you admit it.” Coming between sleep and Sunggyu is a dangerous thing, but sacrifices needed to be made sometimes. Fortune favors the brave after all.

 “Hyunnie.” Now it’s Sunggyu’s time to whine. “I haven’t slept more than a few hours in I don’t know how long. Please?”

“Nuh uh, nope.” Woohyun tells himself to be strong because he’s always been weak to Sunggyu’s pleas (honestly though he’s weak to pretty much everything Sunggyu-related). “Come on, it really isn’t that hard.” He leans down and places a tender kiss to Sunggyu’s lips and the elder sighs with a smile on his face. “You love it, all the greasy, super cringey, cotton-candied, sugarcoated things I say.”

“Woohyun.”

“Just repeat after me. I—” he stops to place a quick kiss against Sunggyu’s lips. He tells himself it’s to motivate Sunggyu, but it’s more that he can’t help himself.

“I,” Sunggyu repeats, finally giving into his lover’s request. (He’s pretty much weak to everything Woohyun-related too, except he does a better job at hiding it and pretending to be annoyed.)

“Love.” Another kiss.

“Love.”

“It.” One more kiss, a little longer in length but no less sweet.

“You.”

“Hey, no fair! It’s I love _it_! Hyung, why—” he starts objecting before his mind backtracks and he stops suddenly, almost comically, mid-sentence. “Wait. What did you say?”

“I love you.”

It’s the first time Sunggyu has said it out loud, though it’s something he’d known for a while.

Woohyun had said it weeks ago though. Before his first music show performance for his second album comeback, Woohyun had found a stolen moment with him and wished him good luck and said _I love you_ all in the same sentence.

And he had been a total fucking idiot and said _thanks_.

Putting to use all his idol-gained skills, Woohyun had quickly schooled his face into a smile that was much too cheery to be real — a smile that hadn’t been able to fool Sunggyu. Still he hadn’t let his hurt or disappointment stop him from promising Sunggyu that he would always be his number one cheerleader. And with one final kiss and another _fighting!_ for good measure, he turned and walked away, leaving Sunggyu to stare at his retreating back. Sunggyu had stayed rooted to his spot, lost in thought, until their manager came to fuss at him for not being ready and shoving him toward the door, saying they needed to leave for his day’s first scheduled appearance.

(Two days later, he had given Woohyun the bear, not knowing it would become his competition.)

“You love me?” Woohyun asks, successfully snapping Sunggyu out of his reverie and back to the present moment. His voice is bright and hopeful, his smile a little shaky around the edges.

He nods. “I do.”

And with those two simple words, Woohyun’s face loses all uncertainty and Sunggyu’s pretty sure that the bedroom lamp is no longer needed for Woohyun’s smile is bright enough to light up the whole room and maybe even Seoul itself.

“I love you,” Woohyun repeats over and over again, peppering Sunggyu’s face with kisses in between the words. His eyes, his nose, his cheeks, his forehead, his chin….

“Aren’t you going a little overboard?” Sunggyu asks, but it’s a weak protest and they both know it. There’s laughter in Sunggyu’s voice and in his eyes. He complains, but he doesn’t mind at all.

“No, never,” Woohyun says, feeling like he might burst with all the pent-up affection he has in his heart, only wanting to endlessly shower the other with it. “I love you,” he says again and finally kisses Sunggyu on the lips and the elder brings his arms to pull Woohyun closer _and closer_ , sinking into the kiss and getting lost in the heady sensation of being young and in love.

It’s sometime later when they finally settle back to their previous position, with Woohyun’s arm wrapped not-quite-so-tightly around Sunggyu’s waist and a leg thrown on top of him again. This time there’s no objection from Sunggyu, only a little hum of contentment as he snuggles back against Woohyun.

“Thank you.”

The words are whispered so softly and quietly and Sunggyu is already close to sleep that at first he wonders if he heard anything at all.

“Why are you thanking me?” Sunggyu asks, his voice heavy with sleep and his words starting to slur.

“For loving me.”

Instead of replying, he takes the hand that’s lying against his chest and raises it slightly, turning it palm side up, and bends to press a tender kiss to the middle of it. He’s not one to make big or even small romantic gestures, Woohyun is good at that kind of thing, but he wants to try anyway because Sunggyu doesn’t think there’s any reality in which he wouldn’t fall in love with Nam Woohyun.  
__

The next morning comes much too soon for Sunggyu’s liking, and to add insult to injury, Woohyun’s spot on the bed is cold and empty. Hearing someone trying to talk quietly, he turns to discover his boyfriend on the floor with the giant bear in his lap and having what looks to be a very serious discussion.

“What are you doing?” He’s now sitting on the side of the bed, feet flat on the floor. “I thought I told you not to—” he manages to stop himself before he embarrasses himself further by sounding irrationally jealous. Again.

“Hyung, I told you not to be jealous.”

(Obviously he needs to work harder on taming the green-eyed monster.)

“I’m not jealous.”

Woohyun just smiles and nods his head, trying rather unsuccessfully to look like he totally buys what Sunggyu’s selling.

“Ya, why don’t you believe me?”

There’s a pout threatening to form on Sunggyu’s lips, a fact which delights Woohyun to no end because he finds jealous, sulky Sunggyu impossibly adorable and cute.

“You have no reason to be jealous,” he tells his boyfriend. “I made Mr. Hugglesworth watch all your music show performances with me, and I played your music videos over and over _and over_ again so loudly that both Hoya and Dongwoo came and complained. And when we ate, all I did was talk about missing you…. and one afternoon I even printed off a picture of hyung’s face and tried to attach it to Mr. Hugglesworth but it refused to stay on because of the bear’s fur.” He frowns slightly in remembrance, still annoyed that his brilliant idea hadn’t worked out the way he hoped.

By the time Woohyun finishes his speech, Sunggyu’s standing before the younger man with a hand extended to help him to his feet.

“You, Nam Woohyun, are truly one of a kind,” he quietly murmurs, framing Woohyun’s face with his hands and kissing him good morning. “And you are all mine.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Woohyun has a huge grin on his face, as he leads his boyfriend back to bed for morning cuddles and other not-so-innocent things.

—

It’s well past noon before they get up officially and it’s mostly only because both their stomachs are making noises as if yelling _feed me, feed me please!_

They’re seated next to each other at the dining room table sharing a steaming pot of ramyun when Woohyun speaks.

“You know hyung, about earlier,” he starts and Sunggyu looks up to meet his gaze, “about Mr. Hugglesworth.”

Sunggyu makes a sound somewhere between annoyance and distaste and Woohyun gives into temptation and presses a quick peck of affection to his boyfriend’s frowning lips.

“Why are you so cute hyung?” he asks, playfully pinching Sunggyu’s cheek, as if he’s a young child who’s too adorable for words.

“Stop that,” Sunggyu says, feeling slightly offended as he gently massages his abused cheek. “I was born cute.”

Woohyun laughs. “Of course you were.” He eats a few more bites in silence before continuing. “I was talking with Mr. Hugglesworth, trying to explain that I wouldn’t be needing or wanting to hang out or cuddle with him anymore because I have you and you’re my favorite bear of all.”

“I’m not a bear,” Sunggyu says, his voice taking on an edge of petulance. Though really (deep down), he’s secretly kind of pleased.

“Yes, you are. You’re my Gyu Bear, my Winnie the Gyu Bear,” Woohyun teases, softly poking him in the stomach. “My Honey Bear.”

“Ya, I’m trying to eat here. Don’t make me throw up.”

Woohyun just laughs in response, but leaves him alone for the moment.

He finishes the rest of his lunch, feeling full and satisfied. Well, mostly satisfied. There’s still one thing that Sunggyu can’t quite let go of.

“You know maybe you should think about giving the bear to someone else since you don’t need it anymore. Besides it was a poor substitute to begin with….” he pauses and waits, looking expectantly at Woohyun who is busy slurping up the last remaining ramyun broth from his bowl.

“Huh, hyung?” He sees the look on Sunggyu’s face and immediately understands. “Oh, yes hyung, Mr. Hugglesworth was a poor substitute….no, bad…. no, a terrible substitute for you. You’re the best and the greatest and— and—”

Sunggyu can’t keep the smile from forming on his face at his boyfriend’s antics. “You don’t have to over exaggerate you know.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Woohyun replies back with a matching smile of his own and amusement evident in his voice.

“Back to what I was saying, we… you, _you_ should think about giving Mr. Hugglesworth to someone else. He may get lonely, and he may get jealous of the time you’re spending with me. I mean, I’m just saying… that’s all.”

The fact that his hyung manages to say all that with a straight and serious face makes Woohyun really _really_ want to tease Sunggyu that inanimate objects can’t get jealous but this is the same person who’s jealous of said inanimate object to begin with. And so because he is feeling generous (and honestly it’s more that he’s just so totally in love), he agrees immediately.

“I’ll give him to Sunggyeol today.”

“Why Sunggyeol?”

Woohyun shrugs. “Because Myungsoo is starting to film a drama and I think he’ll like the company.”

Sunggyu nods his head and clasps a hand to Woohyun’s shoulder. “You’re a good man, Nam Woohyun,” he states solemnly, before reaching down to grab Woohyun’s hand to pull him along. “Let’s go.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“So you can say your goodbyes…”

“Wait, why do I have to say a formal goodbye? If I miss him, all I have to do is go to Sunggyeol’s room and I’m sure he would let me borrow Mr. Hugglesworth for a talk or to cuddle in the—”

His words are left unfinished when Sunggyu playfully pulls him into a headlock. “Ya! I thought you said you didn’t need him anymore because you had me.”

They make it all the way back to Woohyun’s room before Sunggyu finally lets him go and he can breathe properly again.

“It’s over, it’s totally over between us… we’re just too different,” Woohyun cries, picking up Mr. Hugglesworth and fake acting out a tearful goodbye before tossing the bear back to the floor. “See hyung?” He turns and smiles at Sunggyu, as if to say _aren’t I cool hyung? Praise me, please!_

Sunggyu though groans and sinks onto the bed in total embarrassment. “Why do you keep making me into a fool?”

“I was just teasing you. I’m sorry.” (He’s in love, yes, but apparently he’s not completely above poking fun at his lover.) “If there is a fool, it’s me…. I’m a fool for you.”

“Ohmygod Woohyun, there you go again being all greasy.”

“Uh huh.” Woohyun nods happily, wrapping his arms tightly around Sunggyu, giving him a back hug and resting his chin on Sunggyu’s shoulder. “And you totally love it.”

“I love you.”

Woohyun grins, he’s sure he will never tire of hearing those words. “I love you hyung. Always, always, _always_.” Then he tilts his head slightly to whisper softly in Sunggyu’s ear. “Want me to make my earlier teasing up to you?”

“What did you have in mind?” Sunggyu asks, as a shiver of anticipation courses through him.

Instead of words, Woohyun plants soft open-mouthed kisses beginning at the base of his lover’s ear, all along his jawline, until he has Sunggyu turned around and his lips almost reach their intended target.

Sunggyu pulls back at the last second, with Woohyun mere breaths from his lips. “But first let’s give the bear to Sunggyeol.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me hyung,” Woohyun groans because his boyfriend’s timing needs some major work.

Sunggyu just leans forward and kisses him before picking up the giant white bear from the floor and disappearing into the hallway.

 _He’s crazy, certifiable_ , Woohyun mumbles to himself, getting up from the bed and shaking his head at what just occurred. “Hyung, I’m coming!” he shouts.  
__

Exactly two weeks later, Myungsoo finds Woohyun and Sunggyu in bed together (and thankfully for Myungsoo’s eyes and sanity alike, they’re both fully clothed and just playing a board game).

“Hyungs!” he whines, startling both of them out of their conversation (the one that was about to take the board game into less-than-innocent playing territory).

“Yes?” Woohyun asks, as Sunggyu shifts his attention to the younger member.

“Sunggyeol totally ignores me now, and it’s all because of you two!”

“What did we do?” Sunggyu wants to know, as he tries to keep his mind from backtracking to what Myungsoo almost interrupted.

“You gave him that stupid giant fluffy bear, that’s what! I totally hate both of you now,” Myungsoo says, glaring at them and stomping his feet in frustration. He’s like a child who’s had his favorite toy taken away, and well, it’s kind of true. “Fix it, and fix it now,” he demands.

“Hey, it was Sunggyu’s idea!” Woohyun throws his boyfriend under the bus. (In his defense, Myungsoo’s glare is kind of scary and he hates having the younger boy mad at him.)

Sunggyu turns to give him a dirty look, and Woohyun realizes it’s not good to have your boyfriend annoyed at you either.

“I had my reasons.” He sighs and looks back at Myungsoo. “How do you suggest we go about fixing it then?”

“I don’t know, just…. do it as the leader or something. You’re smart, I’m sure you can figure it out.”

“All right, fine, I’ll see what I can do,” Sunggyu agrees, mainly (and mostly) just so that the younger man would leave.

Myungsoo cheers.

“But first let me finish this game with Woohyun,” he gestures to the board in front of him. “I was just about to score.”

“I guess that’s okay. Thanks hyung,” he says, turning to leave but Woohyun’s voice stops him.

“Will you lock the door behind you?”

“Why do I need to lock the door, you’re just playing Monopoly—” Myungsoo stops mid-question and studies Sunggyu and Woohyun closely, his eyes narrowing in focus. “You know what, never mind. You two have fun. No cheating and keep it clean.”

“But I like to play dirty,” Sunggyu says.

Woohyun just grins because his boyfriend is bad in the totally bad meaning good kind of way sometimes.

“Honestly you two need to get a room.”

“Uh, we kind of already had one and someone came in. Rudely, I might add.” Woohyun points out the obvious.

“Oh, yeah. Well, um, just stay in here then.”

“Are you grounding us to our room Kim Myungsoo?” Sunggyu asks, his voice rising in volume as he says the other boy’s name. There’s a scowl beginning to form on his face.

Myungsoo realizes he may have gone a little too far in his words. “No, hyung, never. Forget I said anything actually,” he hurries to tell him, “well except for the fixing the bear and Sunggyeol situation. Don’t forget that, that’s important.” He opens the door, turning the lock as he does. “I’m going to go now.” And with those parting words, he leaves.

Finally, at long last, it’s just the two of them in the room again.

“Hyung, are you really mad at Myungsoo?”

Sunggyu smiles and tosses the board game and all its pieces to the floor. “Of course not, I just thought he would never leave. I figured a threat of being on my bad side would be sufficient enough.”

“Aw, hyung I love the way your mind works. It’s sexy.”

“You know what else is sexy?” 

“What?” Woohyun asks, though he’s hoping he already knows the answer.

“You,” Sunggyu tells him, taking the t-shirt Woohyun’s wearing and drawing it over his head, before tossing it to the floor and kissing him senseless.

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/feedback/woogyu fangirling... all of it is very appreciated. Thank you for reading!


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